


Strongest Love

by Zidiane



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-23
Updated: 2010-08-23
Packaged: 2017-10-11 05:19:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/108837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zidiane/pseuds/Zidiane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto is 25, and married to Sakura with two kids, and another on the way. Only problem is, none of them are his, and everyone knows it. Even Naruto. Sakura cheats on him with Sasuke, and his friends are sick of it. after 8 years, they finally intervene</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strongest Love

**Author's Note:**

> Well, uh… yeah… new story! An angle of a future married life with Sakura and Naruto I haven't seen before. I've never looked too much into those, but whatever. Everyone (Naruto and the gang) is 24-25. this story will be short, lasting no more than three chapters, I think. I can't really do too much with it (I can't. someone else might've been able to, but not me) after that.

Well, uh… yeah… new story! An angle of a future married life with Sakura and Naruto I haven't seen before. I've never looked too much into those, but whatever. Everyone (Naruto and the gang) is 24-25. this story will be short, lasting no more than three chapters, I think. I can't really do too much with it (I can't. someone else might've been able to, but not me) after that.

* * *

(Naruto)

I lie awake in bed, staring at my bedside digital clock. The flashing red letters tell me that it is 2:36 AM. I keep watching the clock until the 6 flashes into a 7. This seems to be a regular thing for me now, watching the clock from 10 until whenever she gets home. I hold no resentment towards her, or to anyone else for that matter. I'm not here for me, I've never been here for me; it's always been for her.

"Naruto? Are you awake?" I hear her voice call to me from the crack in the door.

"…Yes… How was it hanging out with Ino?" I ask, still staring at the clock. I hear the bedroom door open all the way as she walks into the room.

"… Oh… It was fun." She's lying. She knows it, I know it, and she knows I know it. The bed shifts as she lies down. I feel her warmth against my back, but she's not facing me: our backs are connected just barely, and a tear escapes my eye and wets my pillow slightly.

I can't find the strength to turn around and hold her, I can only watch through blurred vision as the 7 flashes to an 8. I want to hold her growing stomach, feel the new life being formed every second, but I can't. "…I'm happy you had a good time…" I manage to get out, keeping up the charade for another night.

I watch the clock for a long time, watching as the minutes flash by, until my eyes couldn't stay open anymore.

* * *

"Daddy!" I hear a voice yell, waking me up abruptly as I felt two little bodies flop onto my stomach.

"Oof!" I grunt, opening my eyes and wrapping my arms around the two children hell-bent on denying me any more rest. They shriek with glee, and I hop to my feet, swirling them around in a circle a few times before setting them down. They wobble around a little, giggling like a 6 and 4 year old should. "Sayani, Fugaku! What are you doing, daddy is trying to sleep!" I yelled playfully, mock scolding them.

They both grinned and giggled again. Sayani, the 6 year old girl, had long black hair with black eyes. She had a cute face, and the black hair was a great contrast to the pale skin she had. She was wearing a dark blue dress that reached her shins. Fugaku was the 4 year old boy, he had short and straight black hair that came down to his neck, and he had black eyes. His skin was only a shade darker than his sister's, but it was still considered pale. He was wearing an orange t-shirt with blue shorts. I turned my attention to where Sakura was in the bed when I fell asleep, and she was gone. I turned to my clock, and saw it was seven in the morning.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Sayani asked, tugging on my arm as she spoke. I realized that in my groggy state of awareness, I forgot to put on my happy mask and I accidentally show them my real face. I don't let them see how I really feel, it's not their fault. They deserve a father who will love them, and that's what I give them.

"Yeah, daddy's fine, just a little tired," I lie and put my mask back on, scooping them both off of their feet as I walk towards the bedroom door, "Today's the day you two go to the park, right?" They both nod enthusiastically, and hugged my neck. I chuckle, and hug them back. "Alright! Sayani, can you go get a bath ready while I wake up?"

"Yeah! Of course I can!" she declared loudly, offended that I even needed to ask, "And I can take a bath on my own, too!" she adds, making sure that I knew she could do it by herself.

"Okay, okay, Sayani, I know you can." She didn't seem convinced that I completely understood her ability to do it on her own, but she let it go.

I put them down at the door, and smile at them. "Come on, Gaku," Sayani said, grabbing her brother by the arm and leading him to the bathroom, "Time to take a bath!"

"Baaaath, I don't want a baaaath!" he complained as he reluctantly followed her lead.

"But you want to go to the park, so it's bath time!" she argued back as she disappeared into the bathroom.

I sigh, grabbing my hair and sitting on the side of my bed. I close my eyes, and try not to think about where Sakura was last night. I can't accidentally get upset with Sayani or Fugaku. I hear the water from the bathroom start, and I take a deep breath. I run my right hand through my hair several times as I get up and head to the bathroom.

Sayani was naked as she was helping her brother get his shirt off. "Urgh! Gaku, stop wiggling!" she scolded the boy as he struggled against her.

"I got it," I told her, stepping into the room, "You go start, I'll wash your brother."

She let go of Fugaku, who had his shirt up over his face with his arms sticking straight up. "Okay." she groaned, and got into the quickly filling bath. The bath was a large sauna-imitation, with large smooth rock linings and a shallow end for the kids. It also had four stone fox heads around it. The foxes had their mouths open, and they were pouring water into the tub.

I turn down to Fugaku, who is looking up at me through the top of his shirt. I smile, and help him out of it. He gives me a little bit of a fight with his shorts, but quickly gives in when I remind him of the friends they are going to meet today at the park. It's sort of a play date type of thing today, we are going to meet with everyone else's kids today.

I shed my own clothes, and help Fugaku into the tub, shutting off the water as I get in. I begin washing him, and Sayani stops washing herself to watch. I look up to her curiously. "Something wrong, Sayani?" I ask, and she looks down to the bar of soap in her hands.

"Can I wash Gaku? I can wash myself now, so I can wash him now too, right?" she asks. I shake my head, and start washing Fugaku's hair again.

"No, you're still a bit too young for that. You only just became able to wash yourself; a week ago, you still needed help."

She took personal offence to that. "Nuh-uh, it was longer than that! And I got good at it, see? I even get behind my ears!" she told me, vigorously scrubbing behind her left ear.

I chuckle and grin. "Hmm… you do seem to be good at that… well, maybe I'll let you try to wash him next time, but right now, we need to hurry, we're a little late."

She accepted the answer apparently, smiling and going back to washing her arms and legs.

They bickered a little, Fugaku's foot was offendingly too close to her side of the tub, but nothing else really happened throughout the rest of the bath. I dried them off, and sent them to their room to get the clothes I had them set out the night before.

They headed off, and I pulled up the plug that kept the water in. I watch as the water tornadoes down the drain for a moment, then head back to my room, grabbing a towel as I go.

I dry myself off as I enter my room, and grab my clothes out of the closet. Nothing special, just civilian clothes, a dark orange t-shirt with a black stripe down the middle, and black shorts.

I finish getting dressed and head down to make breakfast. I see them in their room, Sayani is putting on a dark yellow shirt with a red Uzumaki clan symbol on the back (the swirl on Naruto's genin outfit back), and had red shorts that had dark yellow stripes going down the side on, her favorite outfit. Fugaku was still struggling with his pants, but I could see his outfit on the bed behind him. His outfit was a bit plainer; the shirt was light orange, and his shorts were white. That was his favorite outfit: a little strange, but I have no room to judge with my own color choices as a child.

I head into the kitchen, and start up the stove. I grab the eggs out of the fridge, and the pan from one of the lower… things… whatever these little doors are called that hold everything from dishes to pots and pans to cleaning supplies. I put the pan on the burner, and start cracking eggs. I get another pan, and start making bacon.

A few minutes later, my kids enter the room. "Stop it, Yani!" Fugaku whines, pulling away from his sister.

"Quit acting like a baby, Gaku, your shirts on backwards! Let me fix it!" she said, chasing him into the kitchen. He runs from her, and trips over his own feet. I spin towards him, and catch him by the back of his shirt before he hits the floor.

"Fugaku, Sayani, stop fooling around before you get hurt. Breakfast will be ready in a minute, okay?" I tell them while kneeling down, and they look at me strangely for a moment.

"Daddy, are you okay? You're crying…" Sayani points out, and traces the path of my unnoticed tears with her fingers.

I blink, pushing more of my tears down my face, and stand up. "Huh? Oh, no, daddy's fine, I just…" I start to try to ease their worries, but I can't lie about this one. I can't, not about this particular problem of mine, not on this particular day, so I opt for silence. I turn back to the stove, and turn the burners off. I gather three plates and three cups. I fill the plates with eggs and a few strips of bacon each, and I fill the glasses halfway with orange juice. I turn back around, and they are still standing there, watching me.

"Daddy…" Sayani starts, and they both rush forward and hug my leg. A sob manages to escape my throat, and the tears seem to think my face is the most wonderful place to be at the moment. The face that is unable to keep my mask up. The mask that crumbles under the weight of the pain. I kneel down and hug my children. No matter what happens, I will never consider them anything other than my children, and that is exactly how I will treat the next member of this family, 5 months from now.

I realize I am scaring them as they start to cry too, so I stop the tears. Or I try to, but it was like trying to beat gravity; the harder I tried, the harder they came down. They hug my neck, crying into my shoulder, and I rub their backs. I want to sing to them, but I don't trust my voice at the moment, so I just hum it instead. "Lost Mother's lullaby" is what she called it when she sang it to me, my mother. I didn't know who she was at first, but whenever life got hard, and things seemed hopeless as a child, she would show up and sing it to me, the "Red-haired woman" as I called her before I learned who she was.

I hummed the lullaby I knew by heart, and the lullaby they knew by heart, as I sang it to them every night to put them to sleep. After a few seconds, they started to hum it along with me, as if to sooth my pain as well. We lulled each other for who knows how long, and then I pulled back. Sayani wiped the tears off the left side of my face, and Fugaku wiped them off my right. I smiled, and swept the tears off of both their faces with the back of both of my index fingers. I cleared my throat, and stood up. "Thank you." I whisper, and they both nod.

I grab the plates from the counter, and place them on the table, then move back for the cups, and place them beside the plates. I sit down, and they follow. The eggs are cold, and so is the bacon, but it's fine. Sayani and Fugaku don't mention it either, they just eat quietly. After they finish, I gather all the plates and cups, and rinse them in the sink. "You guys ready to go?" I ask, and they both answer simultaneously.

"Yes!"

"Um, Daddy?" Sayani asks after a moment, and I turn to her. "Can we go to Nata's house after the park?"

"Hmm? You want to go see Hinata-chan today? Okay, we'll see if she's home later today, after the park." She smiled, and nodded. She then turned around, and stretched up a bit to open the front door. After a moment of fumbling, she managed to turn the knob all the way, and the door opened.

"Yes! I got it! Lets go!"

* * *

I watched them as they ran around the park with the other children. Including my Sayani and Fugaku, there are eight kids running around, and Ino's holding her 9 month old girl.

Ino and Shikamaru had four kids, their two oldest, 7, were identical twins. They were both girls, who took after their mother in looks and personality, and the only way to tell Izumi and Izuki apart, was that Izumi had blue eyes and Izuki had brown ones. Their second born (or third, whatever) was Shigure, 4, also a girl. She took more after her father, brown hair and a slim body structure, and the same lazy attitude. The final one was Asuna, 9 months old, a girl as well. Her hair was brown.

Kiba and Tenten had two kids. Their oldest was 6, and their youngest was 5. Touka was 6, and he had short and scruffy brown hair, taking after his father in the looks department and his mother in the attitude department. The other child was a girl, 5, she had long brown hair tied up in two buns like her mother, but she had a wild attitude like her father.

Neji and Kouken (a woman he had an arranged marriage with (not that they didn't grow to love each other deeply)) had one child, a boy named Hizashi, 7 years old. He had long black hair, and pale eyes. He was normally pretty quiet and to himself, but when his friends pushed enough he became energetic, often losing himself in fun.

I sat at a picnic-less picnic table with all of the other parents as we watched our children play. "So Naruto," I heard Ino call, and I looked to her. She had a worried look on her face as she continued, "How are things going with Sakura? Do you know where she is?"

"…" I remain quiet for a moment, then look back towards the children. "Yeah, everything's fine. And I think she went to the hospital this morning to help Shizune out." I tell her, but I can tell she is still looking at me. So is everyone else.

"…Naruto, uh…" she started again, but paused, looking to Shikamaru maybe. She often does that when she pauses about uncomfortable topics. "Can you come by our house after this? There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Alright, but I promised to bring Sayani and Fugaku to Hinata's after this. I'll see if she'll be willing to watch them for a little, if it won't take long."

"No, no, I don't think it will take long."

I go back to concentrating on my children. Sayani has assumed the leader role for the entire group, as she always does, and she's declaring teams for "Ninja War." It was pretty much team hide and seek with the word ninja slapped on it. It was split into two teams, with Sayani captain of one team, and Hizashi the captain of the other. The first captain to find where all the non-captain members of the other team hid won the game.

We watched them play "Ninja War" for a while, then they switched to another game, then another, until eventually the kids got tired. It was a few hours after they started playing that everyone got tired. Us parents chatted about a great variety of things, most of them concerning the kids; how so-an-so was able to do this, or how cute they were when they did that, just parent stuff. We talked only a little about ninja affairs, but we tried not to ruin this peaceful day with such talk.

"Okay kids," I started as they approached me from their final game, "you ready to go?" they nod with a little less energy then when we first got here. I say my good-bye's and I'll-see-you-later's, then bring my kids out of the park.

"Are we still going to Nata's?" Sayani asked, and I nod.

"If she's there, but I might have to leave you with her for a little bit, I need to go talk with uncle Shikamaru and auntie Ino." I explain, and she nods. She seemed a little sad the way she nodded, but she doesn't say anything.

Hinata-chan's house isn't too far away from the park, only a few minutes away. She moved out of her clan's house for some reason she has yet to explain to me; I think it was 6 or 7 years ago. Her house is big for just her; it has around 7 unoccupied bedrooms, and two floors. It's probably just because she is used to having a more luxurious lifestyle, so she might feel uncomfortable in a smaller house. We reach it, the tall blue house with the large front yard, and I ring the doorbell.

She opens the door after a minute. She looks tired and upset for a split second, but almost immediately brightens up after seeing us. "N-Naruto-kun! Sayani-chan, Fugaku-kun too! What are you all doing here, I didn't expect you all so soon after yesterday!" she says looking at me for a moment longer than she normally does, than down to my kids. She kneels down, and they both hug her.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, but they wanted to come over again. Do you mind watching them for a little bit? Ino said she wants to talk to me; it shouldn't take long."

"Oh, no problem!" she tells me, and there's something behind her voice. Some emotion of some sort, but I'm not good enough to tell what it is. I used to just flat-out miss those things; at least I'm getting better. "Take your time, I love having them over; it distracts me from the quiet house."

"Alright. Thanks, Hinata, I owe you one."

She ushers my kids into her house, and looks back at me softly over her shoulder as she closes the door… I wonder what that look meant? Oh well, I should hurry to Ino's and Shikamaru's place, don't want to inconvenience Hinata-chan for too long.

* * *

(Hinata)

I close my door, watching Naruto-kun for as long as I can until the door shuts. I notice the smile is still on my face… bad Hinata! What are you doing! You can't do that, he's married now, father of three! You can't be doing things like that!

"… Nata, are you okay? You're all red, and you're making funny faces." Sayani points out, and look down to her. She and her brother are staring up at me curiously, watching my childish behavior. I'm an adult now, I shouldn't be doing these things. I smile, and kneel down in front of them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, you guys wanted to come over today?" I ask, and Sayani shakes her head. "No? You don't like it here? But you're daddy said you wanted to come over today."

Sayani shakes her head. "No, we like it here, but daddy was supposed to be here too." Fugaku nods, showing he agreed with his sister.

"Huh? "Daddy was supposed to be here"? What do you mean, why was he supposed to be here?" I ask, utterly confused by their toddler logic. Sayani sighs, and looks to her brother. He looks back, and giggles… I think they may have just made fun of me.

"Because daddy was sad at breakfast," she explains slowly, looking back to me, "we brought him here so he could be happy again. But he left."

I just stared at her for a moment, and I felt my face heat up a little. "You brought him here… to be happy?" I repeat slowly, and she nods.

"Yeah, daddy always gets happy when we come see you." she confirms, then grabs Fugaku and brings him into the other room. After a moment of processing what she said, I follow them; it's the room I have set aside for children of any of the friends who might come see me: that's my official purpose for having it, but I originally set it aside for these two.

There are stuffed animals and toys scattered across the floor. I normally clean it up before Naruto visits with his kids again, but I secretly leave it dirty for a few days after they visit. It makes me feel like… almost like Naruto lives here with Sayani and Fugaku. It's really childish and stupid and I should really stop doing it, but… Naruto's happily marr… Naruto's married, and I need to respect that and move on.

"Nata, are you sad today too?" Sayani asks, and I focus my attention on her. "How come today all the grown-ups are sad?" she turns and asks her brother, who stares blankly at her, then shrugs.

"No, I'm not sad, I was just thinking about something… not happy."

"Oh. Do you want us to sing to you?" Sayani asks, and Fugaku nods his assent.

"You're going to sing to me?" I ask, surprised at their sudden proposition, "What are you going to sing?"

" "Lost Mother's Lullaby." Daddy sings it to us when we're sad, or when it's time for bed. He said his mom used to sing it to him in his dreams."

I am unable to hold back my surprise. My face becomes so easy to read, even the children understand. They raise their arms to me, signaling for me to pick them up. I oblige, and they start the lullaby.

Lost little daughter, lost little son

Stop your tears and hush your cries

I'm right here, always watching you

To see me, just look to the sky

I'll ease your fears and dry your eyes

I couldn't be with you, and I'm sorry

You might not see me, but I'm there

I'll always care and I'll always try

To protect you, keep you on the ground

You can find me, just look to the night sky

You'll find me there always as your guide

Guiding your way, until you too become a star

They repeated the song a few times, and then pulled away to look at me. "Yani, it didn't work," Fugaku says, wiping the tears off the right side of my face with his right hand.

"Nuh-uh, it worked," Sayani says, wiping the tears off the other side of my face with her left hand, "Daddy always cries too after we sing it to him, but he's always happy after we're done. See?"

I smile, and kiss them both on their foreheads. They look at me with relaxed expressions. I should put them down, but I don't feel like letting them go just yet… I sit down, and hold them close. They nuzzle their head into my shoulders, and hug my neck. We stay like that for a little bit, and then I let go. They both smile at me, give me a kiss where they wiped the tears off my cheeks, then go to play with some of the toys left out.

"Are you guys hungry? Want me to make something?" I ask, and they both nod. I get up, heading to the kitchen to make them sandwiches and something to drink.

* * *

(Naruto)

I sat in Yamanaka-Nara household's kitchen table. After being married for so long, they would have normally moved into the Nara clan's main house, but according to one of the married couple, 'it's too troublesome; we'd be expected to take up the clan head's duties.' (Can you guess who said it?)

"So Naruto," Ino started, placing some newly made tea in front of him and taking the seat across from him, "are things really—"

"AAAAH! Izuki, cut it out!" one of the twins hollered, chasing her sister into the room.

"We have identical hair! Just let me use it for a little bit!" the other shouted, wrestling with her sister for the brush in her hand.

"How troublesome," a voice commented from the doorway. It was Shigure, surprisingly, the third born daughter.

Ino sighed, scratching her hair in an irritated manner. "Honey!" she called, and the two girls froze on the floor, then stood up. I saw a shadow attached to the both of them, a shadow that led to Shikamaru, who was standing behind Shigure in the doorway.

"Come on, girls. Important grown-up talk; and it would be too tiresome to wake Asuna up, she doesn't sleep very often. Let's go outside for a bit."

Wow… he switched from the word "Troublesome" to "Tiresome"… I guess family life broke him; or maybe it was having four girls, two of them being twins. I'll pray for him when they start hitting puberty.

They all head out of the room, Shigure being the last to leave. She watched me carefully, almost like she was calculating something. She didn't look cautious or wary, she just seemed to observe me just because I was there. I wonder if Shikamaru's got her playing shogi already? She eventually leaves, and the front door shuts. Ino takes a sip of her tea, and I mimic the action. "What I was saying, was we're worried about you. All of us, not just me and Shikamaru."

"Worried about what?" I ask calmly, taking another sip of the tea.

"You and Sakura. I mean how… how can you still be together? After Sayani, we thought maybe it was just a one time thing, but Fugaku too? And now a third one? That one isn't yours either, is it." she finished, stating it instead of asking.

"… They are my children. It doesn't matter where they came from." I tell her, and she sighs.

"I know, Naruto, I know, but… how can you still be together? After six years, how can you still be married? In the first year or so, you two were always together, but I can count on one hand how many times I've seen you two together in the past three years. And the kids! Not one of them, not one is yours! And seeing them everyday, a constant reminder… that's like if Shikamaru had three kids with Temari while he was with me, and had me raise them practically on my own. I don't think I could do that."

"… It doesn't matter. I'm not with Sakura for me, I'm there to make her happy in anyway I can," I tell her honestly, looking down to the cooling tea, "even if the help or happiness I offer is… infinitesimal… I'll do what ever it takes to provide that. If being with Sasuke makes her happy, then that's fine with me."

Frustration was obviously overtaking the concern Ino originally felt. "Then let her be with Sasuke! No need to make your life miserable and empty so she doesn't have to have as many worries!" she shouted at me, slamming her fist down and rattling her tea mug. "Do you know how much pain you're causing, not only for yourself, but your friends? It is painful, PHYSICALLY painful, to see you in the situation you're in!" she shouts, elevating her voice higher, and slamming her fist on the table again to emphasize the word 'physically.'

I smooth my hand over my mouth… maybe she's right but….

Her voice suddenly gets lower, softer and more comforting. "Naruto, I know you had a pretty bad childhood, one no child should have had to go through, and you did it alone: no parents, no friends, and no family. I know that you are willing to take affection and anything that resembles it without question, and I'm not saying you shouldn't do that, but just because someone showed you affection once upon a time doesn't mean they can treat you like Sakura does. Maybe you're trying to purposefully hurt yourself because that's what you're used to, I don't know, but what I do know is this: you do not deserve what Sakura is doing to you, or how she's treating you, just like you didn't deserve how you were treated as a child."

"… She's… My family…" I say slowly, starting to doubt if she actually is. I'm actually doubting if she is…

"No, Naruto! I had family my whole life, so I know what it looks like. Sakura is not your family!"

She clasps her hand over her mouth. I look up to her through the hair hanging over my eyes, and she has a panicked look on her face. I can't think straight… "Of course she's my family." Something makes a shattering sound, and I look down. The tea mug I was holding broke. My hand is bleeding. "I'm sorry," I say calmly, and get up. I stare at her for only a second or two, then head to the front door.

I see Shikamaru, along with his three daughters, lying in the grass and watching the clouds pass over head. He looks to me, and a concern look passes over his face. Shigure looks to me, then down to my still bleeding hand. I want to say something, but I can't find the words. I decide to just leave; I can explain later.

* * *

(Ino)

"Sakura is not your family!" I shout, and quickly cover my mouth with my hand: not quickly enough, unfortunately. Now I understand why my husband says I have a frictionless tongue. I thought he was just playing dirty, but he was talking about my words.

Naruto looks up to me through the bangs draping down over his face, and there is an anger I have never seen before on his face; not anywhere have I ever seen a look as fierce as that. I know Naruto would never hurt me, but his face and the feeling he's giving off is giving me doubts. "Of course she's my family," he states darkly, and the tea mug he's holding shatters in his grip.

He looks down to it, seemingly unaware that he was even holding the mug, let alone crushing it. "I'm sorry," he apologizes, his voice still in the same dark tone it was in a moment ago. He stands up and looks to me, my hand still over my mouth, and our eyes lock onto each other for almost a minute. I am able to see beneath the anger, and behind his eyes I can see many conflicting feelings. Confusion and hurt seem to be the dominant ones, and the only ones I can make out. I have long enough to look into his eyes, but it was so difficult to even make just those two emotions out. I might as well have only looked for a moment with what I was able to see before he leaves.

After the front door shuts, I start cleaning off the broken mug and the spilt tea and blood from the table. A few seconds after the front door shut, it opened again. "Ino… what happened?" Shikamaru asks curiously. I look to him, and see Shigure standing beside him, both of them examining the broken mug stained with blood.

"… it was going fine until I… I accidentally told him Sakura wasn't his family…" I admit, and my husband sighs.

"What have I told you about that tongue?" he says softly, and pulls me into a hug, rubbing the back of my head as it rested on his shoulder.

"I never thought someone could get that angry..." I whisper, and see Shigure investigating where Naruto sat.

"He grew up without family, or did they all die?" she asked calmly, examining the blood on a piece of mug. "Those are the only two reasons I can see for anyone getting that mad for just that."

Shikamaru chuckled. "That's my daughter."

Author's box

* * *

So, what'd ya think? I actually really like all the kids that I made in this story, so I'm going to use them for a future story. You'll see that one later. But, yeah, a review is, like, the ultimate offering to the gods! Or one of them. There's also fanart; nothing shows you like a story more than taking time out of your life to draw for a story (not that I'm expecting any). So, yeah, reviewing would be shining awesome excellentness incarnate.


End file.
